Thanks, Ken. I sure can't see a switch down in there, but will certainly
give the spray treatment a try.

Specially thanks for the safety warning.

And Happy New Year!

Fred

"Ken Weitzel" wrote in message
news:txLAd.618878$%k.493377@pd7tw2no...


Fred wrote:

Thanks for the good words, Jim! It's just a hobby camera and so I'm not
in
a hurry to get if fixed or dish out a couple hundred $$. More fun for
me to
diagnose it and hopefully fix the blasted thing .... and pass along what
I
find out.

After a few plugging/unplugging, turns out there's no oxide build up on
the
AC receptacle. Dang it, that would've been too much to ask!

Hi...

Dunno how much it matters, if at all... but not
on the ac receptacle.

Rather, there's a switch as part of that jack. When you
insert your plug, it physically pushes the switch open,
breaking the connection between the battery set and the
camera. So that the batteries and ac adapter aren't
paralleled. Naturally it follows that when you remove the
plug, the "switch" returns to its resting position, so
that the batteries are once again connected to the camera.

If you have a stereo and/or headphone set you'll get
the principle... plug in the headphones and the speakers
disconnect; remove the plug and the speakers are again
connected.

You might try inserting and removing it many times, slowly.
Perhaps rotating the plug a little while it's inserted.

I really, really hope that you don't even think about
dis-assembling your camera. Really. So, if all else
fails, you might try just a single puff of contact
cleaner. That jack is an enclosed assembly, spraying
into it won't be spraying into the camera unless you
"drown" it.

So, you might pick up a spray can of contact cleaner
(in Canada anyway, Radio Shack, about $10 CDN).
Then holding the camera so the jack is down, give it
just a single puff into that jack. A tiny, tiny
amount, a fraction of a second spray. And continuing
to hold it jack down, immediately insert and remove
the plug over and over. If the plug is at fault, this
should clean it up. Leave it air dry overnight, propped
somehow so it rests plug down. On a sheet of newspaper
just in case.

I'm writing from photo.digital, perhaps the sci.electronics
guys will have better/more advice.

Take care, and all the best in the new year.

Ken